Page 72 - The Perpetrations of Captain Kaga

Claiming the Vegimal Property

“No,” replied Kaga. “But you were right. What’s going on here is
not your fault. I just don’t see how you can stay on here in good
conscience if headquarters maintains this attitude.”
“It’s hard to explain,” said Molosh hesitantly. “During my tour of
duty here I’ve become very attached to the Pogim. Oh, I know that
from the point of view of productivity they leave a lot to be desired,
but it’s really not fair to impose the values of the marketplace on
these creatures. Their own traditions are quite far-removed from our
system of commercial alliances and ethnotechnical exploitation.”
“Up to a point I agree with you,” said Kaga, “and there’s certainly
no excuse for the PKU’s policy of looking the other way. But we
know better, don’t we, down at the one-sentient-being-to-another
level? The concept of barter is basic to all intelligent life; in many
species it forms the basis of both logic and morality. The PKU
perverts that healthy mechanism, however, by imposing a gulf
between trading partners that only the PKU can cross. The
justification is universal peace through virtual quarantine, but
something is lost in the process.”
“Integrity, perhaps?” said Molosh, looking down at his
pseudopods.
“You could call it that. I have a theory that analogizes the cultural
aspects of politics and economics. Just as it was found, centuries ago,
that democracy only works in small groups (that is, in a face-to-face
context), so I think that a totally free market can only exist where
exchanges are made directly. The middleman is to trade as the
delegate is to legislation. Necessary evils, perhaps, but evil can
outweigh necessity. The PKU, for all the good it does in maintaining
order in the relations between planets, has attenuated the distance
between buyer and seller beyond the limits of fair dealing.”
The bathyscaphe reached the surface of the sea and magnetic
grapples came out from the floating spaceport to pull it in. Molosh
fell silent for a minute, and then said, “You know, Captain Kaga, your
job must be a lot more frustrating than mine. I don’t have to be
concerned with these cosmic issues, so I have a lot more peace of
mind.”
“Quite so,” admitted Kaga. “At least this evaluation tour is just a
temporary assignment for me. I have only four more planets to
inspect, thank heavens.”
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